Comparative Analysis of Different Activation Methods on Platelet Rich Plasma

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) emerged tremendously in all medical fields. Being easy to obtain, safe immunologically, and inexpensive made it attention-grabbing by researchers as well as health care givers. Platelet-rich plasma is considered as a source of several growth factors and cytokines which accelerate healing and help cell proliferation, differentiation, improved synthesis of extracellular matrix, and angiogenesis. These growth factors and cytokines are released by degranulation of platelets when activated internally or externally. We designed this study to compare different strategies of platelet-rich plasma activation by evaluating content and release of growth factors for further clinical trials to validate the clinical relevance of best method to help regeneration of liver in hepatic patients. This study was conducted on 21 participants (84 samples, 4 from each participant). Samples were divided into 4 groups: unactivated PRP (Group 1), activated PRP with calcium gluconate (group 2), activated PRP with thrombin (group 3), and activated PRP with thrombin plus calcium gluconate (group 4).Growth factors (PDFG-Ab& TGF-β) were measured in each sample using ELISA. Results obtained showed significantly higher GF (PDFG-AB & TGF-β) release from group 4 (where PRP activated with calcium gluconate plus thrombin) compared to the other groups. Group 3 (where PRP activated with thrombin) showed a higher significant increase in GF (PDFG-AB and TGF-β) release than in group 2 (where PRP activated with calcium gluconate) and group 1 (inactivatedPRP group). Also, it has been found that the GF (PDFG-AB and TGF-β) released from group 2 were significantly higher compared to that released from group 1. It has been found that activated PRPusing thrombin plus calcium gluconate release more growth factors than inactivated PRP. Our study also revealed that growth factors released from activated PRP using activators of thrombin plus calcium gluconate is better than using either as activator.